Counter-Strike

Organiser CAN Yang has informed SK Gaming that for the 2011 edition of e-Stars Seoul the event will only feature Counter-Strike 1.6 and that as a result the tournament will be bigger in terms of prize money and likely teams also, dropping the continental cup format.

e-Stars Seoul 2011 will be held from August 19th to 21st, once again at the COEX mall in Seoul, South Korea. Past events have always featured an RTS title, whether that be StarCraft: Brood War or WarCraft III, but this time around CAN says there will be no Blizzard games due to the on-going IP rights lawsuit Blizzard is pursuing against KeSPA and OGN/MBC.

Since the lawsuit began the South Korean media and esports officials have been united in taking a stand against Blizzard, with WCG recently suggesting they may not include any Blizzard titles in their 2011 event also.

The lawsuit stems from Blizzards decision to license South Korean BW to GOMtv who then told OGN and MBC, the two channels which broadcast individual leagues and Proleague, they must pay a set fee to use Blizzard's game. Currently the sticking point between the sides, with the South Korean side being united in KeSPA, is over whether or not the channels can even afford the figure GOM is citing. In the meantime broadcast of the OSL, MSL and Proleague continued thus prompting the lawsuit.

This could prove to be a positive for e-Stars as far as Counter-Strike 1.6 is concerned since in the past the event had been more of a novelty due to its unique format but not considered a major tournament in the same sense as events like IEM WC, ESWC and WCG since not all the top teams could attend. Previous events used a fan voting format coupled with a selection committee to decide the players/teams who would attend their events.

Last year's Counter-Strike tournament was won by Frag eXecutors as they took their first and only title in 2010.